Why sticking to your medicines matters
You and your healthcare provider will decide what medicines you will take. You must know exactly how much of each medicine to take, and when and how to take it. The goal is to keep the right amount of each medicine in your body at all times. This helps keep your viral load low and your CD4 cell count high. If you skip doses, you give the virus a chance to get worse or change forms. Your medicines might not be able to control the new form of HIV.
Medicine reminders
Here are some tips to help you remember to take your medicines:
- Set a watch or cell phone alarm to go off when it is time to take your medicines
- Get a small pillbox. Fill it with your medicines and keep it with you all the time
- Make taking your medicines a part of your daily routine. This means taking your medicines at the same time you do something else, such as eating breakfast or brushing your teeth
- Use MyMedSchedule.com to print a copy of your daily schedule, complete with pictures of your medicines
- MyMedSchedule can even send you a text message or e-mail as a reminder to take your medicines. You choose what time the reminders are sent, and you can have more than one reminder each day
The best way to NOT get sick is to take all of your medicines the right way every day. Don't let HIV take control of you.
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